killing them, as a lot of us painfully recall. there's another breaking news story out of texas we're following. we're going to update you on that. an arrest -- aapparent arrest in the murder of that district attorney in texas and his wife. very, very dramatic developments on that front. we're watching all of this unfold. but let's bring in our law enforcement analyst here with us in boston. julia, come on over here. >> all right. >> let's talk first of all about john king's reporting substantial progress in the criminal investigation here in boston, significant development. we don't know what that progress is. but you know what, john is joining us on the phone right now. so let's talk to john. john, go ahead and tell us what you can. >> wolf, i'm on my way to you now. i want to report some breaking news information from two sources. one is a boston law enforcement source who tells me they believe they do have a significant breakthrough in the investigation. this source is calling this substantial progress.

that source declined to be more specific but said to anticipate more details later today. now, i want to give you some information -- initial information important from a second source who has been briefed on the investigation. and i am told by sources that both governor deval patrick and mayor mannino and after the boston commissioner after one of the briefings this morning went to talk to the officials in charge. i'm told that the breakthrough came from analysis of video from a department store near the site of the second explosion. i'm told that's the lord & taylor not too far from the finish line and close to the second site of the explosion. i'm also told video from a boston television station also was used during the video analysis that helps contribute to the progress in that breakthrough. and significantly i'm told from that analysis the source tells me authorities now believe they have identified a suspect, an individual who placed one of the

explosive devices at that location of the second explosion. i repeatedly asked whether this person was in custody, i could not get further answers. but i did get from this source a clear indication that the authorities believe they have identified this individual and that that is now the focus of the investigation. i was told to expect more information to be released publicly later today, but i can tell you, wolf, from both of these sources a significant shift. last night they were saying that they had done a good job with the forensics, a very good job of reconstructing how this happened and the type of explosion, but they were quite frustrated as to the question of who. now i am told based largely on the video analysis that came from closed-circuit cameras from the lord & taylor department store that one of these sources made a clear identification of a potential suspect and calling this substantial progress, hopefully a breakthrough they believe in this investigation. >> that store is right near the

finish line of the boston. i just want to be precise. we don't know if the suspect has been apprehended. is that right? >> i do not know that information. i was told that once they identified the suspect that obviously was the focus of the investigation, the way folks were talking they're much more optimistic, but as for that critical detail, i don't have that information. i was told by somebody who asked me how long i was staying in town to hang around because they do think they're going to have a big breakthrough relatively soon in this investigation. >> i know that they're going to be doing some briefings, the fbi agent in charge, governor deval patrick, the police chief, they've been doing them every day. so i assume they will be doing one at this point if they have this kind of significant progress to report that will be

dramatic indeed. i assume you don't know if the suspect is american, foreigner, anything along those lines? >> a physical description was given to me, wolf, i want to be very careful because this is sensitive information, but dark-skinned individual. and i want to just stop there. a further description were given by this source, but it was a background conversation. they're not willing to discuss it on the record right now. given the sensitivity, you heard governor patrick saying yesterday it's so important to the people of massachusetts and the country for that matter in his words turn to each other and not against each other. it was described to me as a dark-skinned male individual shown in the video. there was some further descriptions used, but just for sensitivity purposes until we get more information, i think it's best to stop there. >> and this suspect, this individual was seen on videotape that the fbi and other law enforcement authorities actually went through, is that right? >> that is my understanding. that the breakthrough came when they analyzed the video from the

lord & taylor department store. the picture today -- don't mean to single it out but if you look at the front page of "new york times" today, you see the site there's a mailbox there, it is lord & taylor is just out of that video frame. it's right across the street. wing road is the intersection. i grew up in boston, i'm very familiar with the area. i'm told that the video analysis -- most of the breakthrough came from the department store video from the lord & taylor. i'm also told some video from a boston television station that was submitted to the fbi, many stations, many individuals here submitted everything they have, but i'm told one of -- some of the video from one particular boston tv station was then used as sort of a backup to reaffirm this. and from that the suspect was identified. and now we're waiting to hear word -- trying to get initial information as to where the investigation has went. i was told there is a clear indication of a suspect and described as a breakthrough because of the department store video. >> john, i'm holding here in my

hand this pressure cooker, a typical pressure cooker that people use in their kitchens all the time. earlier fran townsend, our national security analyst here at cnn reported that the top of a pressure cooker, similar to this one, actually when it exploded was later discovered on the roof of one of those buildings and could potentially hold tremendous evidence as far as dna or other suspicious activity and potentially could lead to a suspect. in your information now the exclusive information you're reporting about a potential breakthrough in the investigation, are they saying that the discovery of the top of this kind of pressure cooker may have played a role in what they're learning? >> it's two separate pieces of the investigation as they put the pieces together, wolf. number one, that physical evidence will be used now to reconstruct the bomb and obviously going to look for fingerprints, whether they can

find additional information about that. but that is part of the forensics and physical evidence, but i'm told from the video analysis that they now have what they believe to be clear video image of a suspect approaching the site, placing a package and leaving the site and placing a package that matches the description of what they have been looking for, the size of the package, the black bag and like and they have those images now being analyzed and to such detail i am told that they believe they have a clear identification including a facial image of a suspect. the question i have been unable to answer from my sources is whether they are searching for that suspect or whether they have a name attached to that suspect or whether that suspect might be in custody. those are questions i've been unable to answer and you understand the obvious sensitivity when you try to ask those questions at the key moment in the investigation. >> very key moment indeed. all right. standby if you can. julia here with us as well, our law enforcement analyst. you heard the dramatic exclusive

reporting john has done now about a potential breakthrough in the investigation. >> well, it's good news. and it will probably be confirmed. it would suggest why we're hearing about delays on the normal briefing schedule that the public officials have been given is that they actually need time before they go public. so a couple things to take away from john's reporting. one is this is exactly how they hoped it would unfold. on monday and tuesday they were out there saying everyone give us their pictures, talk to places like the department store to put pieces together and it seemed like it worked relatively quickly. the second issue is sort of who is this person? and that is going to be the pivot point. if it's an individual lone person, then you have a normal criminal investigation. if there are ties to somewhere else and like, john, i'm just going to reiterate we have no idea that investigation will involve foreign countries and international realms, but right now the focus is on finding that individual. i wouldn't be surprised if they have a photo of him that they

didn't make that public if they don't know where he is because someone here knows who that is. >> and we have no way of knowing at least at this stage and john is going to be joining us momentarily if this was an isolated individual what they call a lone wolf who may have been responsible for this horrible, horrible double-bombing at the end of the boston marathon or connected to some other individual. >> or connected in their own mind. that's what people have to remember. sometimes people say i'm a member of something in their own head, right? they have delusions of grandeur about some organization or group when they really have no formal tie with that organization. or it could be just a criminal who's going to go through a normal process of a criminal investigation. but this is exactly we talked about why were they being so public about the information and getting information, it's exactly how they wanted it to unfold. we thought it would take a lot longer. if they found some link to an individual, then that's good news. and now it's just a search for the individual. >> all right, john is here. come on over. julia, don't go away. john is joining us right now

just back from your reporting. and we have viewers who are watching us john in the united states and around the world. so just recap precisely what we know and what we don't know as we await what we expect later today to be a formal news conference by fbi, local law enforcement, the mayor, the governor and others. >> we believe that briefing will now be at 5:00 p.m. eastern time. it was originally scheduled to be at 1:00 p.m. eastern. they delayed it and i'm told the reason is because of the significant change in the breakthrough in the investigation. relay the information i have from two different sources, one is a law enforcement source here in boston who first told me earlier this morning as what he described as a significant breakthrough in the investigation. said he believed this would be a game changer, a turning point in the investigation. that source declined to be much more specific except saying it was the continued analysis and they had gotten past the point of frustration we were talking about last night in trying to get beyond the what happened to the who did it. a second source briefed on the investigation and i'm told a number of top state and city officials have now been briefed on progress told me that the

breakthrough came from video analysis right up the street here of a department store later identified as the lord & taylor department store, which is very close to the site of the second explosion. >> you were just a block away from there. >> and i'm told because of that video and i'm also told video given by a boston tv station was helpful into corroborate that and match things up, timing, sequencing, framing if you will. but largely from the department store surveillance video that they actually got what they were looking for, wolf, which was an individual coming in and placing. and then walking away. that's what they had been looking for. >> let me focus in on the place of that. >> video enhancement technology improved dramatically allows them to go in and make a facial identification. i was told they had clearly identified one suspect. forgive me, i went to ask additional questions of anyone else involved and i was told by the person briefed this morning they had been told of one suspect. that doesn't mean there aren't others, but to the point you were just discussing with julia, do they know anything more about

a motive? domestic, international? and this person said they didn't ask about that when they were briefed this morning, they were waiting for a breakthrough. they said the focus has now shifted to identification to apprehension of a suspect. where they are on that front, that's the information we're trying to get. >> so last night we were talking about why was the fbi and secret service coming out so often about needing this material, the film, photos, in particular from the media is that they did have this gap in sort of that moment when someone drops something. it appears that a stationary camera on the department store would have picked up something that was good that then leads to this individual. and on this front, you know, the motive comes later. if you get the individual -- everyone has to remember, the motives are sometimes in the person's head. they have an idea of who they are, these visions of grandeur. think about for example the columbine killers. they thought they were martyrs for a bigger cause. so that sort of matters less than if you have an individual who then you can put through the legal process and question

rather than worrying about sort of who do they think they are and then find out where they were trained, how they were trained, how did they learn to do this. >> right. how does someone learn for example to take a pressure cooker like this one and put explosives inside with some sort of timing device. all sorts of shrapnel if you will, inside. >> carpenter nails. >> right. just to kill and maim as many people as possible. and what we've been saying is, sadly this kind of information is readily available out there on the internet. >> domestic and international. and on the investigation if we do see a picture of individual as we've been saying all day, this was constructive here. there's no way that anyone who knows about -- they're entire apparatus. they're not going to move in a car or plane. it's people around here will have some information about who this individual may be. >> because even to take it for a short ride is too dangerous. >> yes. >> another thing i want to say and make clear about this the

mayor was not the initial source of my information, he's recovering -- the mayor of boston. he told me when i pressed him on what i've been told about the source and the progress of the investigation, he confirmed to me and was careful he confirmed that the police commissioner told him of significant progress in the investigation and he did confirm to me when i pressed him that it was lord & taylor, he'd been told the lord & taylor video was critical. he said stick around, there should be more information hopefully later today. but the mayor on the record did confirm he was briefed on progress, he was very sketchy about what that would be. >> i was told, julia, earlier in the day. john, you would know this as well, this investigation is huge. that there are so many people that have been brought in from so many different federal, state, local law enforcement agencies. it's almost unprecedented. >> it is. so they're all working under an umbrella known as the jttf, the joint terrorism task force. there are thousands of people

who work through a process that this person is the lead person and working with state, local, federal and a number of federal agencies, secret service, atf, department of homeland security. really in a lot of ways while this is evidentiary, it's also management sort of making sure everyone's sharing information. and it seems to be going at least from what we're hearing so far. monday -- it's only wednesday. i mean, this is pretty remarkable. it seems like it's a long time ago because we've been here a long time, but it's pretty remarkable. >> if i started making calls this morning, the mood shift was palpable in the sense that -- >> yesterday they didn't sound very upbeat. >> i heard words like frustrated. dozens and dozens of help coming in from all around the country, but the folks who live and base here, this is their community and the heart of their community, this is a big event. so you take it as a personal blow. i want to show this, wolf. i don't mean to single out "new york times" by any means and this is a reuters photo on the front page, but this is the site

we're talking about. this is the site of the sex e second explosion. >> the mailbox here and right back it was placed near the mailbox. >> you can see the scarring, some sort of explosion caused the dark scarring on the surface. this photo is of the very site of where i'm told the lord & taylor video if my memory of boston is right, they had what they believed to be a very good static view of this and enhancement of that video from the department store. and i'm told from boston tv station video then used to go back through and make further refinements in the analysis. from that i was told they had a breakthrough in identification of a suspect. i want to be very careful about this because people get very sensitive when you say these things. i was told by one of these sources who is a law enforcement official that this was a dark-skinned male. the official used some other words i'm not going to repeat them. because of the sensitivity people will take offense even at saying that. i'm just saying this was relayed to me by a reputable law

enforcement source -- a source who had been briefed on the investigation i should say that the suspect was a dark skinned male. that information comes from the police. >> you can't say whether the person spoke with a foreign accent or american accent or anything like that. that would be premature. >> again, this source did use further language to characterize and i'm just as a reporter who's been through a lot of these who knows sometimes the information you get does not in the end turn out to be what happens in the end, i'm making a personal judgment, forgive me, but i think it's the right judgment not to try to enflame tensions and say the law enforcement source was clear, they've enhanced the video and have a close-up look at this individual they have on video they say dropping a package, making a placement that they believe to be the explosive device. and they say it's a dark skinned male. i'm going to stop there. >> until we see the picture, we won't know sort of what that description means. and they may release the picture. they moved the press conference from 1:00 to 5:00. that's because they want to get all their ducks in order.

and just as they engage the media and public and everyone else, they might do so in the hunt. if they had them in custody, great. if they don't, there's an individual this is very similar what they did with atlanta, what they did with a number of criminals, you've got to engage the public. somebody here housed him, fed him, he lived here or he was part of this community for some time. >> somebody may have seen him actually go out and purchase a pressure cooker like this one that could cause so much damage and destruction. three people killed, nearly 200 people injured on monday at the end of the boston marathon. other stories that we're watching and we're not going to go too far away from this one, what's happening in washington as far as the suspicious letter sent to a u.s. senator, now sent to the president of the united states suspicious because they may have, may have been laced with the poison ricin, a deadly poison. we're watching what's going on there. lots of activity up at the

senate. the hart senate office building and the russell senate office building, both of those developments are potentially significant. also in texas there's been an arrest in the murder of the texas d.a. and his wife, martin savidge is on the scene for us. he's getting new information. we're going to go to him momentarily. he'll update us on that very surprising development in that. in fact, martin is ready right now. martin, update our viewers here in the united states and around the world on what is happened in texas on the murder. in fact, the news conference is starting right there. >> -- mclelland and mark hasse. cindy williams has been charged with offense of capital murder for her part in the deaths of mr. and mrs. mclelland and mr. hasse. she's being held on a $10 million bond. copy of the arrest warrant affidavit will be provided after this conference the identifying

information, driver's license, social security number and miss williams been redakted. out of respect for the families of the victims during this time we are not answering any questions at this briefing until we're able to brief the family on the events of the past several days. press conference will be held tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. at location that will be determined this afternoon. thank you. >> so there you have it. an arrest in the murder of the texas d.a. and his wife. very, very important development. martin savidge, i think you're there for us. go ahead, martin, and tell our viewers who this person is who has now been arrested. it almost came out of the blue. >> you're right, wolf. yeah, this was one many people had not seen anticipated. there were names circulated in this investigation, kim williams is not one of them. however, she's married to

another person whose name has been circulated widely. one name was eric williams, a former justice of the peace. the reason he's been looked at is because last year he was convicted of theft from office. the man who led that investigation was the d.a. who is now dead and also the assistant d.a. who is also dead. so could that have been a motive in any way? eric williams is being held, but he's being on a charge unrelated to the murder. he's being held for making a terroristic threat according to authorities. now his wife has been taken into custody. and the question is what is the exact link here? did she somehow facilitate? she is the first person to be charged in direct connection with the murders of the district attorney -- the assistant district attorney and cynthia mclelland, the wife of the district attorney. it is those murders that have thrown this community into the depths of fear and concern. and now word of this arrest is going to spread like wildfire, but it leaves open the question what about eric williams?

as you heard there, another news conference is anticipated tomorrow and it could be then if we learn if her husband will also be charged with capital murder in connection with these crimes, wolf. >> connection with all three murders or just two of the murders? do we know the answer, martin, to that? >> as the public information officer said, kim williams has been charged in connection with all three of the murders. so i guess if you go by that and extrapolate, it would be if her husband is charged, he would also be charged with all three of the murders. this case really began to speed up and the focus began to narrow over the weekend with a number of search warrants that were carried out. a search warrant that was conducted on eric williams home and also a search warrant that was conducted on a storage unit that allegedly had been rented by someone on his behalf. in that storage unit they found a vehicle, a vehicle which some witnesses say was bearing a

resemblance to a vehicle that's been seen at the various crime scenes. also, apparently a number of weapons were recovered, a cash of weapons, described as maybe 20. and as a result of that ballistics are being checked, wolf. >> obviously very dramatic development, martin. we'll stay in close touch with you. surprising development in the murder of the d.a. and his wife and an earlier murder of another d.a. out in texas. we'll watch that story. let's get back to the breaking news in boston. dramatic potential breakthrough in the criminal investigation into the bombings on monday at the end of the boston marathon that killed three people and injured nearly 200 others. john king has been working his sources here in boston. law enforcement sources. john is here, julia is here, our law enforcement analyst. and, john, i want you to recap for our viewers exactly what we know. we're awaiting a news conference we believe will happen around

5:00 p.m. eastern with the fbi, local police, the governor, the mayor and others. they'll tell us what they can at that time. in the meantime, your breaking news. >> i was told by one source this morning a boston law enforcement source that they believe they had a breakthrough of significant progress in the investigation. this source declined to be much more specific just said as the analysis continued, and we know the analysis was centered on video analysis, all the camera stuff turned in by local television stations, individuals, video and still photos. i was told there was a much better mood this morning and what they believe to be significant progress in the investigation, a turning point. that's how a boston law enforcement source described it to me. i spoke to a second source briefed on and based on my ranks with that source, i can't identify that source any further, but a reliable source someone getting detailed briefings on the progress in the investigation, that source said the breakthrough came from video analysis, much of the key video i'm told came from a department store right near the site of the second explosion, lord & taylor

was the department store this source told me. >> they have the video cameras from the roof or ground level? >> i don't know that. but i am told that the video showed clearly at the site of the second explosion an individual showing up and placing a black bag. officials said they've been looking for a black backpack or duffel bag, placing it at the scene of the second explosion and leaving it at the scene of the second educatixplosion. whether it was department store video -- i was told by this source that some video provided by a boston television station also helped in the analysis. some of this video, again, the department store video said to be the most significant was then enhanced. and they have a clear image of a dark skinned male placing the bag at the site and then leaving it at the site. from that i was told that is the breakthrough they have been looking for. they have done a good job with the forensics of reconstructs the pressure cooker bomb, the fragments, shrapnel, the ball bearings and carpenter nails. they had been frustrated with the who, they knew the what and

how. i'm told they are confident now they have an individual suspect seen placing that device at the second explosion location as to whether that suspect is in custody, where they are in the investigation, that's where most of the questions we're not getting detailed answers and you have to understand that given the sensitivity of the investigation. i am told because of this breakthrough the briefing scheduled for this hour, the 1:00 hour here in the east coast in boston had been delayed until now we know rescheduled for the 5:00 hour. i will say subsequent to the conversation with the sources i had a conversation with the mayor of boston who is recuperating at a hospital nearby here, he confirmed to me he'd been briefed on what they called significant progress by the boston police commissioner and hang around expected more information today. and he did confirm the information i received from this source that he had been told the video from the lord & taylor surveillance camera had been key to progress in the investigation. the mayor would not go beyond

describing what that progress was, but clearly in a much more upbeat mood about progress in an investigation that he of course takes personally. >> let's hope this is a breakthrough and they have the suspect as opposed to searching for a suspect. we don't know the answer to that precisely yet. i want to update our viewers on some other news we're getting. we have now been told by boston university the name of the graduate student, the third person killed in the boston bombings. a graduate student from china. an 8-year-old boy was killed, a 29-year-old woman was killed and now we've confirmed this graduate student from boston universitiling also killed boston university just tweeting this. grad student has been id'd in the blast. that sweet coming from boston university. now we know, julia, three people

dead. nearly 200 injured. half have been released from the hospital and treated for their wounds. but so many others they remain in the hospital. i've been speaking with doctors here, amputees, major head injuries. the shrapnel, the ball bearings, the nails that were packed -- and this i want to show our viewers. this is a pressure cooker. this is the actual model of the pressure cooker that this terrorist apparently used to put a bomb inside, put shrapnel inside and an explosive, maybe a timer to kill and injure as many people as possible. >> and the fatalities -- yeah, john's from here, a reflection of the city and what the marathon meant. you have a young child, you have a young girl starting her career and you have a student from abroad who came here to get the best education in a school like this. so for people who live here, people think of boston as sort of old and stodgy and really a

dynamic city and what the marathon went. i want to now that we know who this is, make it clear the impact this is going to make for the city. the good news is, we've had no more casualties since that original three. so the doctors are doing tremendous work. they're releasing people quickly as possible. so they're getting the best medical care they can. and that is making the doctors very optimistic here. one of the benefits of this attack being right here is all the hospitals are about half a mile or a mile away. and they're getting tremendous care. that was a triage unit. so this is you look for silver linings in incidents like this and this is certainly one of them. >> and the advancements in medical treatment, some of the doctors will tell you based on lessons learned in iraq and afghanistan, again hearts out to the families who lost loved ones and people waiting to get more word and more progress we hope from the hospitals but what the police tell you and medical community tell you that to have so many people in such a confined space, you have these

explosives go off, they thought the first responders and amazing medical people and just the citizens who helped pulling off their own clothes using them to make tourniquets, god bless them. people who don't understand this city, i hope these three people are remembered as what boston is. an irish catholic kid from dorchester, an 8-year-old, younger sister lost at least one of her legs and might lose another one and she's an irish step dancer and hopefully wake up and recover and lead a great life. >> you're from dorchester yourself, so you know this community. you know the heartbreak that's going through the entire community. >> the school is a quarter mile from my house where we grew up. my youngest brother -- i'm one of seven. the other six still live here, saying this could have been any of us. so i think the city feels that. you have a young 8-year-old boy making his way through little league and through school.

you have a young professional from medford in massachusetts sometimes we drop the d and call it mefor. the 29-year-old -- and then a student from china. that is boston. people come from all over the world to get one of the great benefits of this city. it's great for sports. it's great for culture. it's great for blue collar. thank the lord it is much more diverse and the city gets along better. when i was growing up and you saw that in the park last night for the vigil for young martin richard, black fies u faces, white faces, brown faces, when i was a kid you didn't have that. it just didn't happen. >> that's what i was talking about last night that whatever is about to unfold is really this city is as diverse as any city. you cannot have that reputation. and we welcome people from all around the world. and nothing will change regardless of who this person is. and that's a message coming from the political leadership. and certainly i think comes from people. i don't think boston is going to

feel more paranoid or less welcoming simply because -- or depending on who it is. so that's just sort of a key point to make as we sort of wait for whoever the individual is. >> i think those thoughts will be reflected tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. eastern when the president of the united states and others come to an interfaith memorial service, a special service to remember those who not only were injured but obviously those three individuals who were killed. and we're hoping no more fatalities. there are still and i spoke to a doctor earlier this morning, there are still several people in critical condition right now. they're going through surgery after surgery after surgery, amputees, it's a heartbreaking situation. one trauma physician surgeon i spoke to three tours of duty in iraq and afghanistan, u.s. army reserves, now he's at mass general saying he hasn't seen these kinds of injuries since he dealt with the injuries in iraq

and afghanistan. never at mass general have they seen injuries like this one or like these injuries. and i think that will be reflected when we hear from the president and the others tomorrow. we'll of course have live coverage. we'll have live coverage 5:00 p.m. eastern later today as well of the news conference. the fbi, the governor, the mayor, chief of police, they'll be telling us the latest information. you heard the exclusive reporting that john king has been telling us about a significant breakthrough in the investigation, details coming in. a suspect cly identified right now. let's take a quick break. much more of the news right after this.

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don't wait to ask your doctor about spiriva. welcome back to our continuing coverage here in boston. i'm wolf blitzer reporting. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. significant developments in the criminal investigation into the bombings, the bombings at the end of the boston marathon that killed three people and injured nearly 200 others. we're now told by cnn's john king that there has been a significant development, a potential breakthrough in the investigation. we're awaiting official word 5:00 p.m. eastern we're going to be having a news conference from the fbi, the governor, the mayor, other local law enforcement. they'll tell us what they can about this investigation. but apparently a suspect has now been identified, a suspect who apparently brought a black plastic bag of some sort to the end of the boston marathon, a

bag that exploded and a bag that contained a pressure cooker similar to this one. a pressure cooker that inside this pressure cooker there were explosives, there was shrapnel, there was a timing device. the top of the pressure cooker just flew off, landed on a roof and wound up killing and injuring a lot of people. we're watching this story. we're also watching other important developments that may or may not be related at all to what's happened here in boston. in washington, d.c. right now, ricin, it's a poison -- a deadly poison, it's suspected of having been laced in a letter delivered to a united states senator. and now a similar letter delivered to the president of the united states. the president was never close to that letter. it was intercepted at a location where they screen all packages and letters going to the white house. very similar to the letter laced -- apparently laced with

ricin at least according to preliminary tests. there will be more tests sent to roger wicker, the republican of mississippi. now they're looking at all sorts of other letters that may have been sent as well, suspicious letters. let's go to brianna keilar, our white house correspondent for an update first of all on the letter sent to the president. what can you tell us? the fbi is now in charge of this investigation, brianna. >> the fbi is now in charge of this investigation, wolf. and they are saying that at least preliminarily a letter that was sent to president obama and received on tuesday at an offsite mail facility has tested positive for ricin. when mail goes to the white house, it doesn't actually go to the white house first. it does go to an offsite facility. this is the same case with capitol hill. keep in mind and i know our joe johns has been reminding us of this, there are people that have to process it. and obviously ricin is a very dangerous substance.

so there's certainly concern there about the people who had to process this, but this was intercepted on tuesday. and the big question now is, is there a connection here between this letter, this one letter and the other letter sent to senator wicker and the bombings that happened in boston on monday? it certainly is remarkable timing and really makes you question that. jay carney, the white house press secretary was asked about this during a briefing a short time ago. and he wouldn't rule out that there was a connection. i think the reason a lot of people are asking is the bombings happened about 3:00 p.m. on monday, these letters were received on tuesday. so if you had to speculate, you would think that perhaps they were sent before the bombing. that's certainly a possibility. now, we don't know exactly when they were sent. so we're still trying to nail down some of the details on that, but if this is not connected to the bombings that

happened on monday, then it's possibly a very huge coincidence, wolf. that's why questions are being raised about the timing of this. >> the president and first lady we're now told, brianna, will be coming here to boston tomorrow for this 11:00 a.m. eastern interfaith memorial service that will take place. they will honor those who killed the three individuals -- the three individuals who were killed as well as the nearly 200 who were injured, the president going ahead with plans to come to boston. that was announced, brianna, by the white house press secretary jay carney. >> that's right. he'll be going to the cathedral of the holy cross for that ceremony, wolf. and we learned a little bit about his remarks and the theme he'll be taking as he really does serve a role i think you could say as consoler in chief. he will be according to jay carney talking about resolve. we heard him yesterday, wolf, talk about some of the inspirational stories that followed this attack. in particular he talked about people who ran the marathon,

26.2 miles and even after that when you can imagine just how exhausted they were, they went to the hospital to donate blood for victims who had been injured in the blast. he talked about that yesterday. i think we'll be hearing some more stories like that. carney saying that he wants to highlight how boston was able to respond to this, to remind americans and also the world really just who bostonians and americans in general are in the response to this attack. >> brianna, standby. dana bash is up on capitol hill. dana, we know for a while there was suspicious activity in the hart senate office building, suspicious activity elsewhere up on capitol hill, an individual supposedly walking around with a backpack with some suspicious envelopes trying to deliver those envelopes to various senators' offices. update our viewers on what we

know right now. >> wolf, i'm going to do that, but i would like to start first with some new information that we have about the letters you were discussing with brianna. the letters appear to have tested positive for the poison ricin. according to law enforcement sources who have talked to our joe johns, this is the actual text of the letter. put it up on the screen for our viewers. to see a wrong and not expose is, is to become a silent partner to its continuance. and both letters were signed i am kc and i approve this message. clearly it seems to be a takeoff on political ads which say i am barack obama or senator wicker in this case and i approve this message. so that is the text of the letter that went apparently to both destinations senator wicker and president obama. or at least that was the intention, brianna mentioned, that neither of them got past the offsite mail facilities. in addition to that i should also let you know that since we last talked the senate sergeant

in arms sent out a rather lengthy notice to all senators and staffers reminding them that they should not accept any sealed envelopes in their offices. and the reason he did that brings us to your first question, which is the activity that had been going on for several hours here. hallway in the russell building where i am right now was blocked off. two floors of the senate's hart office building were blocked off. and people were told to stay in their offices. and people were also evacuated -- at least the hart building, from the first floor. the reason is because what capitol police officials believe to be a man who was carrying a bag with some sealed envelopes tried to deliver them to senator shelby's office here in the building where i am. and also perhaps to some in the hart office building. so this warning from the senate sergeant in arms says do not accept sealed envelopes. i should tell you that we understand from our lisa

desjardin, that police were investigating the person who might have been delivering the bags with the envelopes. we don't know yet what came of that questioning. there's been an all-clear here in the russell building as well as the hart building. certainly does make you realize that there is a heightened sense of alert and anxiety here that what usually are kind of ho-hum alerts or warnings that we get from capitol police are not taken that way at all right now. >> so, dana, the two letters -- one letter sent to senator wicker of mississippi, the other letter sent to the president, and i just want to be precise, you say they had similar language if not identical language in both of these envelopes? is that right? >> yes, that's right. that's what a law enforcement official is telling cnn's joe johns. it's the language i just read to you on the screen. i'm trying to pull it up on my blackberry if we want to put it back up for our viewers while i get it here.

here it is. again, if we want to show it again. "to see a wrong and not expose it is to become a silent partner to its continuance." it is signed "i am kc and i approve this message." this is the letter that was in the envelope believed to also contain the poison ricin. there was a positive test for that initially. the senate sergeant in arms says he's confident that it ultimately will be proved positive as ricin. it's being tested in another lab as we speak. in fact, we expect to get formal results on that. >> all right. we're going to interrupt dana to bring john king back. john, you're working your sources and getting more information. exclusive reporting. what else are you learning? >> one of our sources from our national security contributor fran townsend, one source is a boston law enforcement source wlo tells me that an arrest has been made in the investigation. >> so the suspect that was identified has now been

arrested? >> we would assume that. i've just been told that an arrest has been made. we know they have identified a suspect based on surveillance video and they were then taking the further steps in the investigation. just in to us and again, fran townsend has a second source and this is from one of her sources that an arrest has been made in this investigation. a dramatic shift. we're waiting for the public briefing today at 5:00 p.m. here in boston. we do know from other sources i was told this morning that the big breakthrough came surveillance video from the lord & taylor department store right near the site. >> we walked away from. >> just a little more than a block away from where we are light now. had a fixed camera. we are told it captured an individual placing and then leaving what they believe to be the second explosive device. video enhancement allowed them to identify that suspect. and, again, i have a boston law enforcement source, fran townsend, our national security contributor has a second source saying in fact an arrest has been made in this investigation that we're speaking here in the early afternoon hours on wednesday. little less than 48 hours after

those two explosions killed three people, injured in the ballpark of 180 more, dramatic progress by law enforcement officials overnight and this day in this investigation. >> we're going to get fran townsend on the phone and she'll presumably be able to get us some more information. and i know this is a sensitive subject, john. you've been very careful in your words for obvious reasons. does fran have anymore information on the identity of this suspect, if this person is an american, foreigner, speaks english with a foreign accent, american accent -- anything along those line s? >> i'm looking at fran's notes quickly. i know she's trying to join us as soon as possible. here's what her source said. federal law enforcement source says arrest has been made based on two different videos showing image of the suspect. that matches her federal source matches what i'm told from a boston law enforcement source that an arrest has been made and a breakthrough came largely because of the lord & taylor surveillance video. they said there was additional information to corroborate, work

on the sequencing, timing if you will from a boston tv station contributed video they thought might be helpful as well that clearly identified a suspect. and then they were moving to apprehend that suspect. again, we have a local source, a boston law enforcement source and fran has a federal source telling her the arrest has been made. i was told the video enhancement showed a dark skinned male placing the package at the second explosion site and backing away. as for more information about identity, nationality and the like, we need to keep working our sources. >> and as far as this individual being what they call a lone wolf or being part of a broader conspiracy if we will, we have nothing on that. >> i tried to press my sources on that this morning and obviously if they know more, then they're looking for additional suspects, they're going to be very careful about what they tell us. i was told they identified one suspect. i asked were there more, i was told keep in touch. i don't know anymore information. they didn't say yes or no. just don't have anymore information. i was asked about motive and told in both cases our focus is

on apprehending the suspect. >> fran townsend is joining us now on the phone. fran, be precise. obviously this is very sensitive information you're getting from a federal law enforcement source of yours. tell us precisely what you can. >> wolf, this federal law enforcement source tells me that there is an arrest that has been made in the boston bombing case. based on two independent videos showing the suspect at the bombing site, it was unclear to me it sounded as if one of them actually showed the placement. but i want to be clear, it's very chaotic. obviously this is moving very quickly, but what was perfectly clear to me was according to this official an arrest has been made and it is based not on one but two different video images of the suspect at the bombing site. >> do we know anything at all,

fran, that you can report on this individual who has now apparently been arrested in connection with the bombings at the boston marathon? >> wolf, as i say, information is coming in, you know, minute by minute. but i think we need to be, as you know, careful, because initial information can often be wrong. investigators are very focused on trying to answer the question that we and others have been asking since the day this happened, is it foreign or domestic? i think a lot -- i think we'll begin to get answers when we know more about the individual, who has been arrested, and we're trying to gather that information right now. >> but you, yourself, at least you can't tell us, maybe you -- maybe you know information that you don't want to share right now, because you're not sure it is exactly precise, given the sensitivity of this suspect. is that what i'm hearing? >> yes. that's exactly right. as i say, i'm gathering -- we

are all working together additional information, but we have a responsibility to feel confident before we do that and so, yes, i've got some information that lends me to believe they're thinking it may more be domestic related but we don't have enough yet to be confident of that. >> all right, well i want to be precise and make sure we have it right. it is important to get this information out there to the american public and important to get this information out there in general. but much more important to make sure that we're precise and accurate. i want to make sure that we are. hold on for a minute. john king is working his sources as well. it is very consistent, john, she's getting this from a federal law enforcement source, you're local, boston law enforcement sources telling you there has been a dramatic breakthrough. >> an arrest has been made, both fran's federal source and my boston source saying an arrest has been made this and follows then wolf the information we have been getting over the past couple of hours. started with a boston law enforcement source telling me that, yes, they believe they had

a turning point in the investigation, a significant development, this source said they hope to have much more information later in the day. and additional second source, someone briefed on the progress to the investigation overnight told me that they had identified -- clearly identified an individual suspect, that identification was based on enhanced video analysis. largely of video obtained from the lord & taylor department store, just a few steps from us here, a short distance away, and very, very close, just across the street from the site of the second explosion on monday near the finish line of the boston marathon. based on that video analysis, i'm also told some video provided by a boston television station also was used in the ticktock if you will, the framing and timing that they said they enhanced that, clearly identified a suspect placing, dropping a black bag with what they believe to be the second explosive device at the scene and the investigation was going from there. i was told this morning as i raced over here to report this news that there would be additional developments, and the clear indication was that they had a lead on the suspect, and

we are now told again, by a boston law enforcement source and fran townsend, our national security contributor and a great reporter who has great sources in the community says a federal source has told her an arrest has been made. so, again, approaching the 48-hour mark since this tragedy here in boston, we want to wait for the further details, want to be careful about the sensitivities, but you have to say just a dramatic, dramatic day and dramatic progress according to our sources and we'll get more from the governor, the mayor, the boston police commissioner, the fbi special agent in charge and others will be briefing the public at 5:00 this afternoon, early this evening here in boston. >> and live coverage coming up 5:00 p.m. eastern of this news conference. fran, i just want you to repeat now precisely what you have learned from your federal law enforcement source about an arrest, an arrest has been made in connection with the bombings here at the boston marathon. >> wolf, the federal law enforcement source tells me that an arrest has been made in the boston bombing case.

the investigation that they identified this individual based on two different surveillance videos showing the suspect on the video and one of those, at least one of those videos showing the placement of one of the bombs. >> and, fran, so where do we go from here? obviously they're going to question this suspect, they'll read the miranda rights and all of that. they're going to try to find out if this individual who has now been arrested acted alone as a so-called lone wolf or was part of some broader conspiracy, walk us through what the fbi is about to do. >> sure. well, wolf, they will -- they will take him into custody, they will give him his miranda rights because they want to be sure any statement the individual may make is admissible in court during the prosecution. if the individual agrees to talk, there will be -- they will take a statement and they will also likely confront him with

forensic evidence and things that they have learned, photographs, they will ask him to identify how he constructed the bomb, how he knew to construct the bomb, who, if anyone, he worked with, who he communicated with, they'll want to -- they will want to make sure to take when he's arrested any cell phones, blackberries, pocket litter, pieces of paper, notebooks he may have on him and they'll want to have him retrace for them his steps. they will then send other investigators out to try and confirm anything he says to them. on the other hand, wolf, it is entirely possible that if the federal agents give him his miranda warnings, he may refuse to speak or may ask for a lawyer. if he asks for a lawyer, all questioning will stop until a lawyer is obtained for him. >> and then the government in effect would have to make a public defender, an attorney available to this suspect. and if that lawyer says no more talking, no more questioning, that's it as far as the fbi

being able to question this individual, is that right? >> that's right, wolf. but we should also say that the lawyer who has got to give advice to the suspect would also have to advise him that his cooperation, you know, depending on what the government was willing to say to this defense lawyer, whether or not and what benefit he might get as a result of his cooperation. remember, from the very beginning, from the president on down, everyone has said public safety is the first and highest priority. so the first question he's going to be asked is are there more devices and where are they? and, you know, and so if that were the case, i'm not suggesting it is, but it certainly is the first question you want to ask and to get to find any additional devices you would want -- you would want to give him the benefit of that cooperation. so this will have to -- it unfolds very methodically, right, the investigators have

questions and in the order of the priority they're going to ask him, public safety will come first. second is to identify any additional potential conspirators who may have been involved in the planning or execution of the bombing. >> all right. fran, stand by. don't go away. we're going to continue the nonstop coverage here. our team coverage of what's going on at boston, what's going on in washington. we'll resume the coverage right after this.